Channel 12 travels back to 1935

Channel 12, once an upstart public television station, has turned a respectable thirty, with a respectable new brand, Colorado Public Television, replacing the old KBDI. But tonight's installment of Colorado Inside Out, the weekly current events show, will feature a completely disresputable look back at 1935.

On my part, at least.

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For years, the show's staffers have produced an annual trip back in time to coincide with the July 4 weekend. Last year's version, a 1959 time capsule, is up for a regional Emmy, and the 1927 show, in which I played Helen Bonfils -- a role I reprise here -- was another finalist.

Here's the official version of the show:

Colorado Inside Out is going back in time again, this time to 1935. The Emmy Award winning series takes its latest Time Machine visit to the time of the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression and growing tensions in Europe and Asia.As usual, our host and panelists become characters from 1935. Host Raj Chohan plays Stanley Stack, Patricia Calhoun from Westword portrays Miss Helen Bonfils, Dani Newsum is Mrs. Eliza Carney, Kevin Flynn plays Mr. Robert Chase and David Kopel plays Mr. Israel Ben Koplowitz.For producers Larry Patchett and Dominic Dezzutti, this is the ninth trip back in time. The whole concept was the brain child of regular panelist, David Kopel.The producers take great care to stay as authentic as possible to 1935, using vintage microphones, set pieces and even Movie Tone News reels to set the scene for many topics.This year's special episode will be broadcast on Friday, July 2nd at 8:00pm and on Monday, July 5th at noon.

My performance most definitely aside (and my apologies to Miss Helen), the show promises to start this holiday weekend with a bang -- but don't look for fireworks between Dani and Dave. They'll be on their best behavior.

Patricia Calhoun co-founded Westword in 1977; she’s been the editor ever since. She’s a regular on the weekly CPT12 roundtable Colorado Inside Out, played a real journalist in John Sayles’s Silver City, once interviewed President Bill Clinton while wearing flip-flops, and has been honored with numerous national awards for her columns and feature-writing.